Weekend................

 

Waxwings

Stopped at the JET garage in Gainsborough for some petrol...I know that call...20  Waxwings.....nice one
 

Short toed Snake Eagle

 Without doubt the best bird to be seen in Calderdale .....Short toed Snake Eagle , 29th April 2022 pity no local birders saw it................

London by train for the Day

                                                             Blue Whale

                                                                  Lion

 Carion Crow , Ring necked Parakeet , Magpie , Feral Pigeon and Herring Gull.......

National History Museum

 

Waxwings

 Thanks DJS for finally pinning down some Halifax Waxwings , with 15 on St Albans Road by the Hospital on Friday , this one was one of the 25 in Todmorden taken by Bri Leesey..

A good move of Pink footed Geese on Saturday , all heading west,,,

200 +  at 10.42

100 + at 10.44

175 + at 12.57

57 at 13.41

31 at 14.41

563 apox.....

VADU

Just found this one from the  spring......................
 

The sweet smell of Otter poo.....!!!!!

First time ive seen Otter poo in Calderdale..and it does smell ok..a bit like damp hay...who knew...!!!Cheers Andy M...now where is that White clawed Crayfish,,,,,,

                                                                      Lepista soridida

November /Pine Marten

 The Great Northern Diver at Ringstone was the first decent bird locally for a while.(nice one PD and LD) ..A couple of Hen Harrier sightings from Lower Gorple and a Woodcock flew over the garden on Saturday morning .The odd flock of Pink footed Geese east..A half decent move of Woodpigeon totalled only 6,600 birds. 

   Hen Harrier , Peregrine , 2 Barn Owls , 3 Woodcock , Kestrel , Greylags , Mallard , Common Gull and BH Gulls at Lower Gorple...

This photo of a Pine Marten was taken in Calderdale in August /September time ...Brilliant

Dusky Warbler

 Dusky Warbler at Hartendale today Flambrough , 3 Swallows , 1 Woodcock , 1 Brambling, Chiffchaff , Tree Sparrow , Yellowhammer ,Sparrowhawk really awful weather but good to be out....

Lower |Gorple.....

  A really excellent couple of evenings at Lower Gorple , started with a female Ring Ousel down on the rocks just out of the car park.. 223 Pink -footed Geese west , 30 Golden Plover on the tops . a scattering of Meadow Pipits and a few Pied Wagtails. 2 Greylags and 2 Canada Geese kicking about .1 female Sparrowhawk , 3 Kestrel , 2 Barn Owls  and a few Bussards . Three Whooper Swans are the first of the winter season (2 adults and a Juv). 3 Ringtail Hen Harries and a cracking adult male made my weekend,,,,,,,,,Monday...1 Cream Crowned Marsh Harrier , Raven , 1 adult female Hen Harrier and 1 Barn Owl ( with golden wings ,there is one with very white wings)

Local Waxcaps

 

                                                               Blackening Waxcap

Thousands of Redwing

 Got up early to head for soil hill as it looked like a good morning for vis-mig , but as I got past Shelf Roundabout thick fog made for a sudden u turn.When I got out of the car at home 200 + Redwing flew low straight over the house , the next 4 hours saw an unprecedented number of Redwing fly over my patch...20 , 454 in 4 hours , + Crossbill x 9 , Brambling x 3 , Cormorant , Snipe , Woodpidgeon 1000 + , great Spotted Wodpecker x 2 , Meadow Pipit 200 + , Goldfinch , 1 Swallow , Siskin , Reed Bunting , Alba Wagatails and surprisingly 30 + Mistle Thrush ...

The fog helped me in the end , From my watch point in  Northowram , I could see the fog bank sat on Shelf Moor to the west and thick total cloud cover abover , The masses of Redwing came in from the  north east and as the saw the fog on the hills turned more SSW and this took them right through Northowram in there thousands. As you can see Peniston was the same. All the sites west were fog bound and the Redwings did not cross the Pennine.s in any large numbers.  At one point there were a 1000 + Redwings in one flock twisting and turning and redirecting above Northowram ....

5 Red Admiral and 4 Comma in the garden in the afternoon..

5 Crossbill  Walshaw plantation ,(1 red male ) , 2 Barn Owl , 5 Goldcrest , 10 Siskin , 1 female Sparrowhawk and  44 Fieldfare dropped in last light..

Soil Hill

 Had a look up on the  Hill this morning from 07.30 - 8.30 ...

Meadow Pipits ...140 s/w

Pink Footed Geese  x 12 east 

Chaffinch x 4 s/w

House Martin x 1 s/w

Goldfinch x 14 s/w 

Jackdaw x 4 very high s/w

Kestrel x 3 , Canada Goose x 48 , Mallard x 24 , BH Gull x 6 , Moorhen x 1 

Memory's from Soil Hill ..Many thanks to Brian Sumner ,,

 Thursday, December 5, 2013

A Soil Hill story

An horrendous day up here on the tops with a severe gale WNW >9 gusting 10 bringing showers of horizontal rain turning to snow after dark when the wind dropped leaving a light frozen coating on the cars and pavements.

 

With the sighting of Lapland Bunting on Ringby Top the other day,DJS, it reminded me of the Shore Lark found up there a few years ago and the amazing sighting we had of 3 Shore Lark and 2 Snow Buntings which gave excellent views on Soil Hill for a few days back in Nov 2004.

Here is a report from Andy Cockroft I dug out from his first visit to the hill.

 

                                          Andy wrote :-       The phone was buzzing in my pocket but I was unable to read it as it was my Grandmas 90th birthday speech. When I got to read it , it said, 3 Shore Lark , Soil Hill

10/11/2004.  Where the hell is Soil Hill I thought !!!!!! Early next morning I pulled up at the place I was told to go to where it was thick fog, not just thick but dense with visibility down to 3 or 4 feet.

I had no idea where to go or even where I was, ( now I know that this is not uncommon on the hill).

                                                            As I stumbled around the wire and rubbish I certainly cursed the place a few times. Eventually I reached the top and thought I,ve no chance of seeing anything in this, but then out of the gloom 3 birds flew past me which could have been Skylarks but sometimes you just know when they are something different. I searched for another hour then gave it up.

                                                                    A couple of hours later I returned and the fog had gone so I set off again knowing that they were there somewhere and after literally bumping into one of the Cunningham brothers we were soon rewarded with the 3 Shore Larks giving good views and also Snow Bunting and Jack Snipe.

Since that first date I have been many times to the hill and have been rewarded several times with, Black Redstart, Dotterel , Purple Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Buzzard to name a few.

Soil Hill is one of the best places to see Snow Bunting in winter and usually picks up the first Wheatear in spring and is well worth a look at any time of year , especially in the autumn for vis mig.

Andy C.

A nice report there Andy giving a good feel to the place.

Fly Flatts and home

 Had a look at Fly Flatts from the top road , a single Great Crested Grebe was a first for me at this site and at least 5 Stonechat  on the road.Kestrel  and a few Mipits . A quick view of a Blackbird type was inconclusive ,!! 

  Still a few Swallows drifting south and large numbers of meadow Pipits and Goldfinch heading the same way. A cracking adult female Wheatear today along the drystone wall  and a few Pied Wagtails on the Cricket Pitch...

Early October

 Still plenty Red Admirals in the garden with a single Comma and the odd Speckled Wood, a good move of Pink footed geese in the last few days with  at least 500 + heading east in 5 skiens...loads of Meadow Pipits have been heading south with some decent flocks of 20 + ,Swallows still moving and small flocks of Goldfinch. A group of 11 Mistle Thrush came in from the east and headed south west  with one single Redwing in with them was interseting/early  . Sparrowhawks and Bussards seen daily .  A trip up to Lower Walshaw ,was generally quiet but HH , Merlin , Sparrowhawk and great views of hunting Barn Owl made it worth while. One female Widgeon dropped into Ringstone briefly...

Northowram Waxcap and Spindle

 

Butterfly's 30th September

 In the garden today there were 8 Red Admiral and 1 Comma feeding on seedum ,wont be many more before the winter. An excellent year at Northowram for butterfly's with good numbers of  Holly Blue , Wall Brown Speckled Wood and Comma...

Calm at the gap

 A very quiet morning  after a very hectic few days at the Gap saw little or no movement south today ,in the bay , 

22 lapwing west , 70 Golden Plover blogging , 7 House martin , 20 Shag , 30 Red throated Diver , 175+ Teal , 30 Widgeon , 1 Pintail ,1 Artic Skua , 1 Peregrine Falcon , Gannet 300 + , 2 kittiwake , 3 Swallows and a very late Swift , a few local Linnets , Reed Buntings , 1 Stonechat ,  10 Yellowhammer , 2 Common Scoter , 10 juv Common Terns and 20 Bottle nose Dolphins....

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler , Long Nab.....

 After another hectic morning  at the Gap I headed up the coast to see the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and it showed very well in bursts ...Another great bird to see in Yorkshire..

A Tide of Finches

 Busy from the off with flocks of finches heading south  a total of 1300 finches in 3 hours is some counting + all the local stuff moving about....A pod of 9 Bottle Nosed Dolphin , 1 Little Gull and a Little Egret made for a brilliant morning ..Many thanks to Keith Clarkson...(the legend)....still a few Red Admiral moving south

 

Madness at the Gap..............

Clifden Nonpareil ( Blue Underwing)

Red Underwing

                     Convolvulus Hawkmoths male and female and Blue Underwing